A man burned at the Burning Man festival recently lost the appeal of his lawsuit against the festival's promoters. His case vividly depicts "assumption of risk," which can prevent a plaintiff from prevailing in a personal injury claim.

The San Franciso Chronicle reports that a California appeals court upheld a verdict that organizers of the annual Burning Man festival did not negligently cause the burns suffered by Anthony Beninati in 2005.

As recounted in the court's opinion, Beninati was attending his third Burning Man festival in 2005. As usual, the festivities concluded with the burning of a 60 foot effigy from which the festival draws its name. Once the structure collapses, participants often toss objects such as mementos into the bonfire.

Beninati went toward the bonfire in order to throw in the photo of a friend who had planed to attend Burning Man with him, but died six week before the festival. He tripped and fell into the fire, burning both hands badly.

Beninati sued the festival promoters, Black Rock City, LLC, for negligently causing his injuries by inviting participants to come forward and toss things into the fire without providing safe entrance and exits for doing so.

Many older adults rely on walkers and canes to help them get around and remain active, but a new study shows that these devices are also causing falls and emergency room visits for thousands of older Americans every year.

Every day from 2001 to 2006, an average of 129 older adults (age 65 and over) were treated in emergency rooms nationwide for injuries from falls that involved the use of walkers and canes, according to researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That adds up to over 47,000 injuries each year. The study will be published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Take a look at some of the key findings from the CDC's research of fall-related injuries involving walkers and canes:

Since the prehistoric Information Age days of the Commodore 64 and the TRS-80, injuries linked to personal computers have typically been of the repetitive-stress variety (i.e. carpal tunnel syndrome), coupled with concerns over long-term vision problems. But a new study finds that the incidence of "acute" physical injuries caused by computer equipment -- everything from falling equipment to tripping over wires -- is on the rise.

The study Acute Computer-Related Injuries Treated in U.S. Emergency Departments, 1994-2006, to be published in the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found a seven-fold (732 percent to be exact) increase in acute computer-related injuries from 1994 through 2006, with a spike in cases involving young children.

In Florida, horse riders aged 16 and younger will need to wear a helmet while on horseback on most public roads, trails, and other public property -- whether riding recreationally or taking equestrian lessons -- under a new law signed today by Governor Charlie Crist.

The new Florida equestrian helmet law is part of a renewed focus by U.S. lawmakers, on how to best utilize state laws to prevent the incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that occur from falls during recreational activities like bicycle riding, skiing, and horseback riding.

From concussions to severe head trauma that can result in permanent disability or death, brain injuries affect millions of Americans every year. And the prevention of brain injuries has received particular attention in recent months, beginning with the March death of actress Natasha Richardson, who suffered an epidural hematoma (or bleeding of the brain) and fell into an irreversible coma after hitting her head during a seemingly minor ski accident.

Now, the effective treatment of brain injuries and the long-term effects of head trauma suffered by children are the focus of new research at UCLA and a nationally-published study.

Defects in New York City subway platforms have caused at least three riders to fall onto the tracks while waiting for trains, but city transit officials are dragging their heels instead of identifying and fixing platform problems in a timely manner, according to an investigation report released this week.

The report from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) begins by recounting a near-tragedy that occurred on a subway platform in Brooklyn in January 2008, when the "rubbing board" on the platform's outer edge gave way and a teenage boy fell in the path of an oncoming subway train.

Many people keep treadmills in their homes and use them as an alternative to a gym membership or as an expensive coat rack, depending on the level of their commitment to a regular exercise routine. But the accidental death this week of Mike Tyson's daughter Exodus Tyson has prompted a new focus on the unique injury hazards that treadmills pose in the home, especially for young children.

Every year, exercise equipment like treadmills, stationary bikes, and stair climbers cause about 8,700 injuries to children under the age of 5 years of age, and about 16,500 more injuries to children between the ages of 5 to 14 -- with fractures and amputations reported in about 20 percent of these incidents, according to figures from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Now is a good time to review some of the unique safety hazards related to treadmills, and learn how to avoid treadmill-related accidents in the home.